During the week of May 9-15, a total of 364 initial weekly claims for state unemployment benefits were processed by the Department of Labor and Regulation. This is an increase of 59 claims from the prior week’s total of 305.
The latest number of continued state claims is 2,519 for the week ending May 8, a decrease of 120 from the prior week’s total of 2,639. This indicates the number of unemployed workers eligible for and receiving benefits after their initial claim.
For the week ending May 15, a total of $343,000 was paid out in state benefits, in addition to $729,000 in Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), $62,000 in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and $299,000 in Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits.
The Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance was $162.3 million on May 16.
Benefits paid since March 16, 2020:
- Regular State = $113.5 million
- FPUC = $234.3 million
- PUA = $20.5 million
- PEUC = $9.6 million
Total = Approximately $377.9 million
Nationally…..
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid fell last week to 444,000, a new pandemic low and a sign that the job market keeps strengthening as consumers spend freely again, viral infections drop and business restrictions ease. The data release coincides with rapid moves by nearly all the nation’s Republican governors to cut off a $300-a-week federal unemployment benefit that they and many business executives blame for discouraging the unemployed from seeking jobs. Most of the same states are also dropping out of federal programs that provided benefits to those who were self-employed and to those who have been unemployed for longer than six months.
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